


Harmony

by starrylitme



Series: Until we may fall in love [3]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa 3: The End of 希望ヶ峰学園 | The End of Kibougamine Gakuen | End of Hope's Peak High School, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anxiety, Banter, Canon Rewrite, Complicated Relationships, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Existentialism, Identity Issues, M/M, Neurological Disorders, Porn with Feelings, Post-Canon, Recovery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-26
Updated: 2016-11-26
Packaged: 2018-09-02 05:53:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8653339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starrylitme/pseuds/starrylitme
Summary: “I’m not talking to Kamukura-kun—but does that necessarily mean I’m talking to Hinata-kun?”
He doesn’t answer.
“The person standing before me now—who is he?”
He can’t answer.
“Who are you?”
(Post-DR3 AU where two idiots reconcile peaceful island days. And spend a peaceful night together. Now if only their minds would get with the program.)





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [NanakiBH](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NanakiBH/gifts).



> The third fic out of the three KomaHina exchange fics is now posted to Ao3!! And even though it's supposed to be a "conclusion", you can't get more "loosely connected" than this. The prompt just asked for "a peaceful island day post-dr3" and I...well. I'm pretty sure that was a request for healing fluff. Like an episode of a sleepy healing anime. I don't know how to write those so this happened instead.
> 
> I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I've already apologized, but I'm seriously sorry. ;w;
> 
> That said, I am still content-ish with this fic. Retrospective, reflective stuff is very much what I favor writing, and that's definitely here with the extra bonus of the characters having unclear images of themselves and their relationships. Even when everything seems all pleasant and peaceful, there's something someone is questioning. :'D
> 
> I worry that trying to explain too much will make me sound patronizing. I don't want that, so I just urge you to read, form your own ideas and tell me what you think! If you want!! 
> 
> I hope this fic is at least interesting and satisfying on some level. ;w;

There’s an overall pleasance to the atmosphere and it’s hard to remain unaffected. Even though they’ve returned from quite the heavy ordeal, there’s something lighter in the air—a palpable relief that got everyone giddy if not content. Maybe that something was hope, maybe it was something else, but either way...

Despite everything, things were...nice. The carefree days passed by so quickly and easily that it was almost difficult to appreciate. But, all the same, he was grateful and he was sure everyone else was, too.

There’d be nightmares, there’d be some setbacks, but overall, it really felt like these peaceful island days would last until forever.

But he knows that’s overly idealistic thinking. Still, he’ll take whatever the future brings once he’s there. That’s how he’ll look at it—and that’s how he’d like to live from now on.

Maybe that’s overly idealistic, too. Maybe Kamukura would think that naïve—maybe that wasn’t even Kamukura thinking such things.

On nights like these where his thoughts are wandering all over the place, it’s hard to tell. He can’t get any sleep at all.

_It’s a lovely night, at least._ He thought, looking towards the window where he had pulled up the blinds. Over the trees, the sky was clear with nary a cloud in sight, allowing for an endless expanse of sprinkled stars across a rich, dark blue. He can’t see the moon from here—but it’s a full one tonight, isn’t it?

It’d been a while since he went out to just appreciate the night sky. The last time had been—a while ago. He remembers looking up at the stars in the simulation, but he also remembers feeling more at an absolute loss than he did admiring.

Not really thinking—not like he had any other options besides just lying there and waiting to fall asleep—he began to push himself out of bed. He didn’t bother with redoing his tie and instead buttoned up his usual dress shirt alongside pulling up the usual pair of pants. Running his fingers idly through the dark brown spikes, he gave his reflection a quick glance before slipping on his shoes and heading out through the door.

It was chilly out, sending the hair on his arms standing up on their ends, but he didn’t mind it as much as he used to. It was especially calm out, of course, with little noise save for nature’s buzzing and the gentle rumbling of the ocean’s waves.

It’s...nice. Pleasant. Peaceful, just like the island’s days. He wondered if that’d ever change and when to expect it. _When that happens, I’ll be prepared, at least. Right?_

He shakes his head to clear it of the thought.

The beach is any good as place as any to walk along. The very image of treading along the sand as the waves lap along the beach’s edge was a tranquil one. It’s from the beach that he’d probably get the best view of the stars and moon. So, that’s what he decides.

He definitely, definitely should’ve expected someone else to have the same idea, especially considering the others on the island. Especially considering Komaeda.

“Komaeda.”

“Oh, good evening, Hinata-kun,” Komaeda says, turning to him with a serene smile. He simply stood on the sand, just out of the waves’ reach, and had been looking at the stars with his jacket held in his arms rather than worn. By his feet, a hermit crab buries itself, and his gaze snaps back up to Komaeda’s face. Swallowing, he just nods.

“Uh, couldn’t sleep either, huh?” he guesses. “Or is this just one of your nightly strolls?”

“You could say either or,” Komaeda replies, giggling. “It doesn’t matter when it’s me, but, have _you_ been having trouble sleeping?”

“You could say that,” he said. “There’s...been a lot on my mind lately.”

“Sometimes, I wake up in a cold sweat expecting to see her hand, but,” With a mechanical whirl, Komaeda brandishes his robotic hand with a carefree laugh. “I get over it much quicker now than I used to. That’s good, isn’t it?”

Of course it was. And of course he smiled in response to that—but.

“It’s not just that. It’s not as simple as having a nightmare or...forgetting something for a moment.” He sighs. “It’s...it’s hard to explain. I don’t fully understand myself though...part of me does, maybe? At least, Kamukura Izuru...”

“You can’t rely on Kamukura-kun for everything, Hinata-kun,” Komaeda scolds, wagging his finger at him, still making those mechanical whirls each time. “You’re going to start slacking off and that’ll be irritating for everyone to put up with! Be more thoughtful!”

“I know!” he protested. “I do! I’m not... I know I can’t just...use Izuru like that... Even if he doesn’t mind it, I do, and we both know it’s...unhealthy, I guess. That’s not it. At least, I don’t think it is?”

Komaeda hums thoughtfully, tilting his head. “Sounds complicated.”

He can’t help but laugh at that. He’s not sure if there’s any real humor in the sound. “Yeah. It is.”

“I am talking to Hinata-kun, right?” Komaeda asks, suddenly.

He freezes up. Komaeda’s expression remains inquisitive, eyes wide and childlike almost.

“I’m not talking to Kamukura-kun—but does that necessarily mean I’m talking to Hinata-kun?”

He doesn’t answer.

“The person standing before me now—who is he?”

He can’t answer.

“Who are you?”

He trembles and, “I don’t know. I’m...not sure. But... Komaeda, is it alright if...”

He takes a deep, shaky breath, and asks, “Can I just be thought of as Hinata Hajime? Even if I might not be?”

“Is Hinata-kun alright?” Komaeda wonders. “Hinata-kun?”

He nods. “Yeah.”

Komaeda nods back in understanding, and then he laughs. “Well, that’s settled then! I’m glad it was so simple!”

“I’m, uh, glad,” he echoed, only a little uncertainly. “I’m glad, too.”

Komaeda’s smile widens, and he turns back to looking at the stars. Hinata, perking up and feeling his fingers twitch, moved to stand alongside him, and looked up as well.

As expected, the stars were especially beautiful from this view. The moon in particular was prominent and bright—an almost pure ivory shade of white compared to the stars’ flickering glows. Only the star Polaris seemed to have an unwavering gleam.

“We’ve looked at the stars like this before, haven’t we?” Komaeda asks suddenly. “Not too long after I woke up, you watched the stars with me while I was recovering. Even though I had such a horrendous attitude back then, you were willing to put up with just staring at the sky for hours in silence. I still can’t believe you weren’t horribly bored, back then, Hinata-kun.”

“I...” Hinata hesitated, and said, “I was just really relieved you seemed so calm for once. That moment...as boring as it should’ve been...was really nice. I don’t regret it at all.”

“I’m relieved you stuck around in spite of everything,” Komaeda replied, and flashed him another bright grin. “Whether it was as Hinata-kun, Kamukura-kun, or whoever, I’m glad you stayed. It’s made living just a little more bearable.”

Hinata just stared back, taking in that smile, Komaeda’s pale features seeming almost ethereal against moonlight and starlight. He had always been fragile in appearance, and even in a considerably healthy state, that hasn’t really changed. It’s still unsettling how easy it’d be to snap that thin neck or bruise that powdery skin.

Just a kiss would be enough to make those pale pink lips swell, probably.

And of course, Hinata flushes at the thought and stiffens. He doesn’t say anything, and Komaeda perks with interest, but he doesn’t say anything either. He just hums, and turns away with a thoughtful look.

“It’s been pretty pleasant all around since we returned with Mitarai-kun, hasn’t it?” Komaeda asks. “Mitarai-kun was worried about fitting in with everyone...but I never doubted for a second that he’d be fine. I was almost kind of bored by how easily he took to everything. Maybe that’s bitterness, since I had such a rough time in the beginning...”

“I don’t blame you for that,” Hinata replied. “We, uh, weren’t exactly as accommodating then as we are now. Komaeda, I...”

“You already apologized and I forgave you. It’s only fair that I mean it, especially since you forgave me first.”

Hinata stills for a moment, but he just leaves it at that. Komaeda does the same.

“Do you have other memories of watching the sky and talking like this?” Komaeda suddenly wonders. “It might just be a nonsensical feeling of mine, but something about this is...familiar. Not because we’ve watched the stars together before, but because I think we’ve talked like this before even though the conversation topic was...probably completely different then...”

“Now that you mention it...” Hinata says. “It’s definitely something I recognize.”

“Oh good!” Komaeda exclaimed as cheerfully as ever. “I’m not crazy after all!”

“Weren’t you told not to think of yourself as crazy anymore?”

Komaeda just laughed. “You remember that too? You’re really something else!”

“Why would I ever forget something like that...?” he mumbled, wondering before shaking his head and just going on, “I’m pretty sure you and Kamukura Izuru have spoken like this before.”

“I think I’ve spoken like this with a reserve course student, too,” Komaeda added, looking down wistfully. Shrugging, he asks, “Do you remember anything like that?”

“I...” Trailing off, Hinata met those soft gray-greens, and he nodded firmly. “I think I do.”

Komaeda stared back, quiet and attentive. The silence between them dragged on, with the ocean’s waves still rolling, still brushing against the sand, and Hinata couldn’t help but sigh.

“Komae...”

Before he finished, Komaeda leaned in and pressed a soft, quick kiss to his mouth. He pulled back just as swiftly, and moved to pull on his green coat, pushing his hands through the sleeves as Hinata remained frozen and in shock.

“I’m sorry, that was insolently impulsive of me,” Komaeda was saying but the words didn’t really register at all. Komaeda giving him a little side-glance over his shoulder though, exposing that insecurity and the rosy _blush_ —that had Hinata immediately perking up.

Despite everything, Komaeda gives him a sad smile.

“It was nice talking to you. I’ll see you tomorrow, alright, Hinata-kun?”

Hinata stiffened, feeling his chest grow unbearably tight.

And Komaeda just turned away, and Hinata wasn’t thinking about anything except that—so when he reached out and grasped onto a Komaeda’s boney wrist before he could get too far away, even he was surprised by it.

“Hinata-kun?” Komaeda asks, making him stammer.

“I-I... Komaeda...” Steeling himself, Hinata swallowed and mustered up all he could. “Please don’t go.”

He tugs Komaeda back gently, just a little.

“Please stay with me. Just tonight, at least?”

Komaeda isn’t looking at him, but he nods all the same.

“Okay. If you insist, Hinata-kun.”

Hinata pulls him away without another word.

* * *

“I still bruise easily,” Komaeda says with a light laugh. Hinata, thumbing at the new bruise on that pale neck, just nodded. Komaeda giggles a little more. “It doesn’t hurt, though. Not at all.”

Hinata swallowed, holding back a shiver as his frown deepened.

“Don’t look so sad, Hinata-kun,” Komaeda says, smile desperate as he took Hinata’s hand, holding it to his cheek. “Please? Hinata-kun?”

Hinata’s kiss against his forehead was unspeakably gentle. Komaeda was trembling too in the short pause it took before Hinata kissed the corner of his mouth and moved his hand further up under the other’s thin white shirt.

Komaeda wasn’t as scrawny as Kamukura Izuru recalled. Maybe this was something more similar to what Hinata Hajime had dreamed.

“You’re still sensitive here,” he notes and can’t help but laugh as Komaeda lets out a muffled whine as his ribs are traced and a thumb rubs around his nipple. The bud is flicked, earning a grasp, and he can’t help but nuzzle in closer to that adorably flushing face. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“Has it really?” Komaeda asks. Like he’s really unsure. He’s completely pliant as his pants are pulled off his hips, and he tilts his head curiously as they’re tossed aside. “Just a while, Kamukura-kun?”

“Just a while,” he agrees. “But the circumstances are completely different now compared to then, right?”

“Oh, right,” Komaeda agrees, trailing off. “This atmosphere’s much nicer, isn’t it?”

Thin arms begin to wrap around his neck. Komaeda pulls himself closer, meeting his stare with wide, expectant gray-greens.

“It’ll be a good day tomorrow, won’t it?” Komaeda asks. “And the day after that and the day after that and several days later? Something could always go wrong, of course, but that’s not likely, is it? We’ll be alright, won’t we?”

He nods as Komaeda idly plays with the hair on his nape with his robotic hand, the strands surely getting stuck between the mechanical joints.

“It’s terrifying,” Komaeda says, softly and with only the smallest hint of a waver to the words. Just like that, his usual calm, cheerful smile has strained itself into something else. “It’s really terrifying. I really have no idea what I’m supposed to do with so many peaceful days. I _really_ have no idea whatsoever what to do with all this happiness. Doesn’t it feel a little wrong? I certainly don’t deserve it.”

“Komaeda...” he sighs, and Komaeda shakes his head firmly before burying his face into the warm junction of his neck and shoulder.

“Kamukura-kun,” Komaeda says, laughing painfully before his voice drags with, “ _Hi_ nata-kun...”

Komaeda really was shaking as he brought his arms around that still frail frame, and even tightening his embrace did little to settle him. So, stroking comfortingly down that protruding spine, he kept his voice low and steady.

“I’m not going to leave you. Neither of us are. When we promised that—we meant it.”

Komaeda muffles a laugh against his neck. His response is to give the other a reassuring squeeze.

“I...” He hesitates, for just a moment but shuts his eyes tight. “I really adore you, you know that? _Nagito_?”

There’s no response, except in how Komaeda might have stilled for a just a moment before he went right back to shaking like a leaf.

“I really adore you,” he repeated. “I—I’ve definitely been crazy about you for a while, Nagito. I’m...definitely more than a little in love with you, I think.”

“You _think_?!” Nagito bursts out, clinging to him tighter as he just laughs and laughs, hysteria building as the shaking gets even worse and worse—“After everything, you—! **_You_**!!”

“Yeah, I know,” he said, stroking down wild white curls as Nagito quieted, even as he continued to shake. “I know.”

Nagito pulled back, lying against the bed and undoing Hinata’s buttons with his mechanic hand. The coldness of those fingers was almost enough to get an involuntary shiver. But, Hinata shed the shirt almost immediately once all the buttons were undone. And, Hinata didn’t even pause before tugging down his jeans and boxers.

“You’ve gotten more attractive,” Nagito murmured blankly, exhaling.

“So have you,” he returned easily, running his fingers down the soft dip in Nagito’s abdomen. “But you’ve always been so _unfairly_ pretty.”

“Even with the scars?” Nagito asked with a hint of a smile, gesturing to the ones across his thighs. That smile fell from his face as he covered his mouth when Hinata pressed open-mouthed kisses along the left mar.

“So sensitive...”

Nagito trembled as a tongue ran along the scar’s edge before dipping inside. His blush darkened further with embarrassment and the arousal that he doubted went unnoticed.

“ _Huh_.”

Sure enough.

“Staring will make it wilt,” Nagito snapped matter-of-factly even as the blush hampered the effect. “I’m self-conscious enough, Hinata-kun, please don’t be insensitive.”

“Ah, sorry,” he said, and watched attentively as Nagito flinched as his hand wrapped around his length, giving a quick, firm stroke that had the other moan. “That’s not what I want at all.”

His other hand brushes back the messy white strands from his eyes, tucking them behind his ear as Nagito half-lidded gaze blinks up at him.

“So,” Nagito purrs as a smile spreads across his face. “What do you want, then?”

“You, of course. Did you want to hear me say those words aloud? I’ll say them as many times as you want.” He pulls back to rifle through the bedside drawer, never taking his eyes off Nagito for a second. “I want you—I want to be with you—I want to spend every day of my life by your side...”

“You want to ruin me too, don’t you?” Nagito asked. “Break me down and build me back up into the ideal image, right? Hey, when are you going to fix me already?”

“Hm.” Hinata hums as he pulls out a small plastic bottle. “Do you really want an answer to any of that?”

“You have unsavory thoughts about me, right? How many unsavory things have you wanted to _do_ to me?”

He squirts the oil into his hand, slicking up his fingers.

“Were you considering such things back when we first met? When we were in despair? When you were waiting for me to wake up?” Nagito pauses, and then, “What about when you mercilessly destroyed that world I wanted so badly to live in? Was _that_ your way of punishing me?”

“I already explained myself about _that_ , didn’t I?” Hinata asked, looking almost offended. “Geez, Nagito, if you’re angry at me, you really should just say so.”

“I’m not angry,” Nagito laughs, bitterly and mirthlessly. “I’m despairing.”

Hinata pauses, placing the bottle aside. With his dry hand, he cups Nagito’s cheek, running his thumb over the delicate curve.

“That was a lie,” Nagito says, softer than a whisper. His eyes are not quite dry. “I lied—I’m sorry, I’m really sorry, don’t be mad. I just really don’t know what I’m supposed to do with these feelings. Sometimes, I still feel like I hate you—but I know there’s more to it than that. I know I love you, too, more than I can begin to make sense of. It’s... It’s kind of the worst thing to deal with, Hinata-kun. I hate thinking about it, so...”

Those cold, thin fingers grip onto his arm. Mechanical ones grip onto the sheets. Desperate, stormy swirls of gray meet his mismatched stare.

“Please,” Nagito’s barely a step above begging. “Please fuck me senseless already so that I stop thinking. I really will get angry if you don’t.”

There was a strange waver in Hinata’s expression then. Something stricken with a kind of emotion that no one really would want to put into words lest they acknowledge it. But, Nagito smiled up at him all the same, only shutting his eyes tight when Hinata kissed between them on the bridge of his nose.

Hinata was aggravatingly slow and gentle when his fingers first began to press inside, one at a time and only bit by bit to give him ample time to accommodate. Nagito whined, but the process remained at a stagnant rate. Even with an annoyed stare half-heartedly tossed his way, Hinata kept that gentle pace.

“You really are the _worst_ ,” Nagito moaned, pouting adorably all the while. “It’s not like either of us are virgins. Or did you forget how to do this?”

“I just really want to appreciate how beautiful you are,” Hinata answered, quietly and so seriously that Nagito could’ve laughed. “I really can’t get over it.”

“Even if you mean that weird sentiment, you really shouldn’t say it. How are you not embarrassed?”

“Hmm, dunno,” Hinata’s fingers gave a hard thrust into his prostrate, earning a high-pitched yelp and full-body shudder. “Maybe it’s because I mean it with every fiber of my being?”

“You’re terrible,” Nagito says and then mewled helplessly at that spot being teased. “I-If you...mmgh... R-Really mean that!! Just, ugh, show it with a- ** _actions_** not...not _words_ , Hinata- _kun_!”

Another hard press, and Nagito positively squealed.

“ _H_ - ** _HINATA-KUN_**!!”

“Wow, you’ve gotten even needier,” Hinata droned, stretching him wide and watching with intensifying interest as Nagito squirmed, hips wiggling to try and urge for more. “It’s been a long time for you, hasn’t it? Have you even...done _that_ in your spare time?”

“Hah, what the hell are you asking?” Nagito gasps wetly and tearfully. “That’s _private_ information, Hinata-kun, don’t be, a _ah_ , creepy...”

“Oh, so that’s a no, huh?”

Nagito whines loudly as he pulls his hand back. Despite everything, a smile tugs at Hinata’s lips.

“Geez, no _wonder_ you’ve been all wound up. You really should do at least something about all that tension. There’s plenty of people to talk to and plenty of ways to destress...”

Nagito glared at him, cheeks puffed out and eyes still teary.

“Did I _ask_ for that advice?”

“Sorry,” Hinata says, chuckling. “I just really worry about you, Nagito.”

“You’re incorrigible,” Nagito mutters, though he pauses as Hinata hums out an agreement...and as Hinata positions himself, and grips his thighs just as he pushes in all the way.

Nagito doesn’t even attempt to hold himself back from crying out.

Hinata’s breathing hard. Nagito’s wheezing in a way that sounds painful, so Hinata strokes his throat, making Nagito groan and swallow back saliva.

“I really worry about you,” he repeated, much more seriously. “I really have to wonder how long I’ve been in love with you... Because I think I’ve always felt this way towards you, Nagito.”

Nagito’s pleading stare is enough to get him moving. Again, there’s a slow, steady pace of thrusts, and this time, Nagito is pliant and mewling the entire time, even as the sounds get a bit more impatient.

“I’m really sorry,” Nagito sighs after a while. “It must be hard. I can’t imagine loving a terrible person for years. I don’t even think my parents...”

“Don’t.” A sudden, harsher thrust that had Nagito choke on the words. “Don’t _talk_ like that—please? Alright?”

“H-Hinata- _ku_ —!”

“You know, Nagito, I’ve probably fallen in love with you three times. If I...ever forget you a fourth time, I’m sure I’ll just fall in love with you again. I’m sure of it.”

“Hah... A _ah_...”

Hinata pecks his forehead before moving down to take those rosy, parted lips into a wet, messy, open-mouthed kiss. Nagito’s moans were muffled against his own, and Nagito himself was almost suffocating. He didn’t mind it at all. Not at all.

“Nagito,” he gasps, puffing against Nagito’s lips. “Stop...writhing like that... It’s hard to focus...”

Nagito weakly giggles and pulls him into another dizzying kiss.

“Come on,” Nagito coaxes, sweetly. “You’re getting tired with thinking too, aren’t you? You want to lose yourself too, don’t you? _Hajime-kun_?”

**_Fuck._ **

He was already moving faster from just that.

“T- _There_ we go! Aha! You’re really _fired up_ now, Hajime-kun!”

It really did feel hot. The air felt heavy. Nagito was clinging to him harder, tightening around him, and moaning out his given name like a desperate, reverent mantra. It was getting hard to focus on anything else but _that_.

“Ah, Hajime-kun...”

_You’re unfair, you know that?_

“Oh, Hajime-kun, _please_...!”

_You’re **really** unfair, you know that?_

“Hajime-kun, _Hajime-kun_...”

**_~~God, you’re beautiful.~~ _ **

He’s fine with losing himself in this. For now, he’s completely fine.

* * *

“I didn’t overdo it, right?” he asked for the umpteenth time, placing the rag aside. “Does it ache?”

“Of course it aches,” Nagito scoffed, but his expression shifted to pensive as he lowered his hand into his folded arms. “At the time, it didn’t hurt at all, but... Your technique has definitely gotten much worse.”

“Is that disappointment?” Hinata wondered, chuckling just a little in spite of himself. “Does that mean you’re a masochist? Somehow, I’m not surprised to hear that.”

“I don’t appreciate the implications of that remark, Hinata-kun.”

“Sorry,” Hinata said insincerely, lowering himself until he was also lying on his stomach beside the other.

“You should be,” Nagito returned seriously. He would have been completely covered by the sheet if not for his hair predictably sticking out. “It’s _rude_ to act so presumptuous over someone’s bedroom preferences. Besides, that assessment is, ah, inaccurate, anyway...”

Hinata hummed.

“I don’t mind pain, though,” Nagito went on. “I’m quite used to it. My pain tolerance is actually really impressive.”

“Is it?” Hinata asked dully. “I don’t have any interest in testing that. Not at all.”

“Of course you don’t,” Nagito giggles. “You’re so tender-hearted it’s really something else... And yet, you’ve hurt me more than anyone else I know. You’re _really_ something else.”

Hinata, glancing at him, had a deepening frown.

“Nagito...” He starts, pauses, and then goes on. “How about we go on a date tomorrow?”

“Eh?” Nagito blinks at him, doe-like and wide-eyed. “A date?”

“It doesn’t have to be that different from how we usually hang out, but...” Hinata’s stare flickered to the ceiling briefly, and he felt his face heat up as he forced himself to meet that stare again. “I’d...really like to do something like that with you.”

“Oh, our relationship’s at that level already? _Really_?” Nagito wonders. “Aren’t we rushing things? I haven’t even asked if we could be friends, Hinata-kun. You’re really insensitive. I was trying really hard to work up the courage to do that.”

“Is friendship all you want?” Hinata asked. “I swear I won’t push for more in that case. I don’t want to make things awkward but—I thought this was the right time to ask something like that...?”

“You’ve never dated anyone, have you?”

He doesn’t even pretend to deny it. He just shook his head.

And Nagito laughs.  And laughs and _laughs_.

“You’re _really_ something else!!”

Hinata pauses as he stares, and he sees as Nagito’s flushed, broadly smiling face begins to soften.

He rolls onto his side, facing away from the other. He feels the confused shift in Nagito’s movements at such a response.

“Hinata-kun?”

He began to tremble, just a little, at hearing that name.

“Hinata-kun,” Nagito repeats, a little sternly.

“Sorry,” he apologized. “I... I was just thinking... It’s nothing...”

“You can’t even look at me when lying so brazenly?” Nagito asked, unimpressed. “How disappointing. I expected better from you, Hinata-kun.”

“That’s...” He hesitated. “I don’t...”

_I..._

“Is it really alright to be called that? I’m...not who I used to be. Not as Kamukura Izuru, nor as Hinata Hajime... Can I really go by either name if I’m not really—?” He can’t help but laugh, lowly and bitterly. “God, who even _am_ I? You asked me that earlier, Nagito, and I don’t—I just _don’t_ know. I really have no idea. Am I even a person at all? Am I even _real_?”

Even as he laughs, Nagito isn’t saying anything. Even after he quiets, shuddering, Nagito just hums thoughtfully.

And then, Nagito pressed into his back, nuzzling into the space between his shoulder blades.

“I wouldn’t know the answer to such a complicated question, but I do know how I feel towards you. So...” Nagito’s arms begin to wrap around him from behind. That calm, steady tone doesn’t waver in the slightest. “So I’m not concerned about such things. What truly matters is that you’re someone who’s undoubtedly significant, not just to me but to everyone else as well. If you need any of us to validate your existence, I’m sure anyone would be happy to comply.”

“That’s...” he starts, trailing off. “That’s a little...”

“If it’s a name you want, then I do think Hinata-kun and Kamukura-kun would allow you theirs. Both of them, I think, wanted to live on as people in spite of everything. That must sound presumptuous, coming from me, but that’s what I’d like to believe...” Nagito pauses, and then, “As someone who loves those two and as someone who loves you, dearly and from the bottom of my heart, I’d really like to believe there’s a way all of you can reconcile with existing all together. What do you think?”

He doesn’t answer.

“I also think you should talk to a psychologist,” Nagito went on drearily. “Do you think Naegi-kun can set us up with one? Surely Togami-kun can pay one off for us... It’ll be troublesome getting the message out to them but I think fortune will work in our favor.”

“...Maybe that’ll be for the best...” he says after a while, gripping Nagito’s hand tightly in his own, and turning to face him. As Nagito calmly and curiously met his gaze, he pressed a kiss to the pale knuckles. “It’ll probably take a while for one to get here, though, so for now...”

“If you really want to, I don’t mind,” Nagito said like it was just that simple.

“You _don’t_ mind?” he asked helplessly.

“I don’t mind.” Nagito smiled cheerfully, eyes shutting tight. Despite himself and everything else, there was still that comforting effect after all that happened. “Is Hinata-kun alright?”

He stilled, but, with a slowly returning smile, he nodded.

“Yeah. I’m fine.”

* * *

The sky was bright overhead, with blues and whites blurring together until he shook his head to focus on what laid before him. Nagito glanced at him oddly, gray-greens wide and curious, and he just tightened his grip on that robotic hand.

“So, where to?” Nagito asks. “You have this entire day planned out, right?”

He didn’t. He was kind of more interested in seeing what would happen if he just went with the flow of everything. How bad could it be?

Disruptive, at the worst, if any of the louder people on this island got involved. At least Mioda wouldn’t have a concert today. At least Nidai and Owari sparred in a very specific area. At least Souda’s heavier machinery was on standby.

But all the same, it was sure to be yet another peaceful day on the island. The same as all the others—but slightly different. Slightly yet significantly different.

“Hajime-kun?”

Hinata smiled at him, giving his hand a firm, signifying squeeze.

“Let’s go, Nagito.”


End file.
